Another Place, Another Time

Chapter V

They were ushered into the cramped space that was the meeting room, there was a low quality camera resting on a wooden stand in a corner, behind it, walls fresh with paint shone from the various undried patches where it had seemingly been applied in a rush. In their haste, it seems like whoever had did the job had neglected a few places, as there were old paint peeling off the wall in some locations,

At the center of the room, there was a wooden table and 4 chairs, surprisingly made of leather, and quite worn, the leather itself was probably salvaged from the city ruins, and the wooden frame handmade. The craftsman was clearly unexperienced, as the frames were looking quite unstable.

Unstable enough that Hua was reluctant to even touch it.

As she was internally debating whether she should just chuck her weapon case down and perch on it instead, the other had moved across the room and sat in the seat, as per the request of the guards.

Huh.

'It didn't collapse?!' was the ear splitting mind-yell that was directed to the immortal currently seated, opposite the empty 2 plastic chairs, no doubt reserved for the leaders.

Jingwei merely turned her head, and arched an eyebrow in response.

"Y- you..." the Herrscher spluttered, confused beyond words.

"Me." the immortal calmly spoke, "Hua, sit down," and then on second thought, added, 'Bear in mind that everything - every action, every word - we do, will add to their image of the previous era.'

Hearing this, Hua quickly moved to sit down, the chair creaked slightly under her weight, and she refrained from cursing out loud by the weight of her vessel, 'Why is this vessel so heavy?' she complained to Jingwei.

'We have the same weight, you practically collapsed on that chair.'

Hua pouted, 'Did I? Oh well, I didn't realise."

"Oh! Good morning, Master Otto! Good morning, Madam Kallen!" one of the guards stationed at the door spoke.

'WHAT? HOW IS THAT DUDE STILL ALIVE!' Hua screeched, for the first time this afternoon, turning frantically to face the other, who held a face of disbelief.

"Ah, greetings, Rita," an all familiar voice spoke, and frankly, Hua didn't know whether to feel angered at the blond who owned the voice, or overjoyed at the fact that people from the previous era has been reincarnated into this era, as it potentially meant that maybe the Hyperion crew had been reincarnated too.

In the Herrscher's shock. Otto and Kallen - hands joined - had already settled on the plastic chairs, and was patiently waiting for the duo to get over the shock.

Using the spare time, Hua quickly observed the two, Kallen had pretty much remained the same, with the Kaslana's typical white hair and blue eyes, Otto hadn't changed much either, except he was rid of the ponytail over the shoulder, instead opting for a small braid down his back.

Hua had a strong feeling that she knew who was the culprit, since a certain Kaslana sitting next to him shares the same braid, only longer.

Otto no longer carried the air of superiority, and his eerie green eyes no longer bore the image of a calculating predator. It was slightly unnerving, to say the least, given that Hua has never seen this side of him, not even in Jingwei's memories, not even when he tried to shield Kallen from Phoenix, in the battle between Schicksal and Shenzhou. the only times that she did see him with such an expression, it was always faked for the purpose of deception.

It sounds so wrong but...why does Otto Apocalypse now look like the typical image of a friendly family man?

As if hearing the Herrscher's thoughts, the immortal next to her was struggling to keep a straight face.
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"I am aware that we weren't on the best of terms-" Otto started, voice coated with faux sincerity, but was quickly interrupted.

"Yeah! Right! Biggest understatement of the whole timeline!" Hua snorted, voice dripping with venom.

"Hua-"

"No, Jingwei, I'm not going to let him use his ugly pretty face and annoying sweet voice to sweet talk and manipulate you again, I won't have it! You know better than me, heck, you experienced it more realistically than me of what this man can do!" as if to expand on her point, she threw both of her arms into the air in exasperation.

"Guys, please, listen to what we have to say," Kallen, who had remained silent until now, spoke.

"...fine."

"I think you'd be glad to know," Otto began again, albeit this time quietly, gaze transfixed on the outside city beyond the window, "that while I am the reincarnation of Otto Apocalypse of the Previous Era, I do not carry the full set of memories of said man," he paused, seemingly considering his next words, "I have...scattered shards of memories, some shattered remnants at times. On strange occasions, I do get full memories, but those are rare...however, meeting you seems to have made me remember quite a lot of memories, some scattered, some surprisingly full."

"I see..." Jingwei spoke, her expression showing piqued interest and curiosity, "if you do not mind, please elaborate, or more precisely, what had we made you recall?"

"My mind can only process so much at the present moment, my apologies, but if I am correct, it is something about K...423? and...me quitting Shi..ck..sall? and...making some kind of deal to bring someone back to life with some strange demon?"

"And sold your soul in the process?" Hua asked, hopefully.

"...that actually isn't that far from the truth."

"Yay- WH-AT?"

"The 'demon' is the Void Archives, First Divine Key, if I am correct, you made a deal with it to bring Kallen back to life, in exchange for it to take over your body after," the immortal said, "as for K-423 and you leaving Schicksal, it's quite hard to explain, since there were so many events that had occured between them."

Otto was silent for a moment, "Then...if it's no big trouble, would you mind explaining it to me?"

"Wait a second, before you dive into the deep history of the Previous Era, did you say something about bringing me back to life?!"

"Kallen, honey, I'm sorry I kept it from you, please can we talk later?"

"Pffft, sure you will. Whatever, fine"

A/N I have 2 plot ideas in my head right now, one is genshin-honkai crossover, the other is pure honkai so...if you're seeing this, please comment on which one you'd like to see

Word count: 1071